Trip Like I Do
by Marx810
Summary: This story is an extension of Makokam's "Toxic" and will more or less, begin and end within the confines of that story. That said: Mindy's had enough of being 'normal' and decides to run away from home and live as she previously did. Only...she doesn't want to run away alone. Rated M for language and sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

_(A/N: Okay, so I've been meaning to do this story for quite some time now. Ask Makokam if you don't believe me. Anyway, how this story came about. Makokam was telling me about the story that would eventually become "Toxic" and it really intrigued me and when he finally did it, I thought it was awesome but was all, "Hey, M-Dawg, cuz that's what I call him,(I've never actually called him that), that was a kick ass story, no pun intended, but it just felt like an appetizer, I'd love to get more info on what exactly happened in it." To which he said, go ahead, dude, do it. You've got my blessing. And I was all…wait…what? No I meant for you to…wait, what? _

_And then I thought about it, and thought…Hells yeah, you know what, M-Dawg, cuz that's what I call him(seriously, I have never called him that in my life), I'm totally going to do that. And he gave me an outline of what he intended for the story, and it was game on, motherfuckers…and then I got a second job, and my free time went down faster than a cheap hooker with a 20. However, I do hope you enjoy this extension to Makokam's story, and I swear I'll be doing the chapters as fast as possible. Feel free to review me positively or negatively, or to call me on it if my continuity's off. I'm trying really to keep the continuity within the first 50 chapters of "Precocious Crush", but as I've read all of it posted, to date, that's kind of tricky sometimes._

_For those who are unfamiliar with Makokam's work...seriously?...You're not? And you're reading Dave/Mindy fanfiction? Honestly? Anyway, I'll try to make this accessibly to everyone, but I'm assuming anyone who reads this has already read at least PC. If you haven't, this story is based on his story "Toxic" which is an alternate version of PC after chapter 50.)_

Life sucked. Not to say that Mindy McCready was exactly a pessimist. In fact, she saw herself as more of a realist. Life is what you made of it and all of that, but currently, for her, life sucked balls. She knew she was just having a pity party and that wasn't helping anything, but she couldn't see what else she could do to change her current situation. The facts. Marcus had banned her from being Hit Girl. She wasn't happy with that, but she could deal. It turned out that her best friend, Dave, who she'd been training recently, had been superheroing behind her back, and was caught on tape returning as Kick Ass. She was furious about that, she was furious on so many fucking levels…but she could deal. Marcus grounded her when he found a small arsenal hidden in her bedroom. Fine, most people would have given her a much harsher punishment than that, and possibly some therapy. Irritating, but she could deal. Marcus banned her from seeing Dave outside of school. That fucking sucked, but…if pressured, she could deal. Marcus put out a restraining order on Dave so that she couldn't even see him at school. What…the…FUCK?!

She was trying to be an adult, and just suck up her punishment, but it…it just wasn't fair. How could Marcus not get that? He seemed genuinely confused that she just started to…shut down. She felt trapped, claustrophobic. Only it wasn't her room she was trapped in, it was…the Mindy that she had to pretend to be for everyone else, everyone but Dave. With Dave she could be herself and wouldn't have to worry about people being scared of her, or thinking she's crazy. The look Marcus had given her on their most recent conversation about this, flashed in her mind. She gave him a flash of the real her, just a flash out of frustration, and he couldn't handle it. He wanted the…act…Hell, he wanted a normal little girl who wanted ponies and wore fucking…pink bows and shit. That wasn't her.

Mindy suddenly got out of her bed and grabbed her backpack out the closet and started putting her stuff in it. Fuck Marcus. He was doing fine without her and he'd be fine if she left. Mindy was able to pack her bag almost on autopilot. This wasn't the first time she'd done this. This wasn't even the tenth time she'd done this. She'd packed and unpacked that damn bag so often, she'd lost count. She'd get all the things she needed, be completely ready to go, then she'd think about it…and then unpack her bag and sulk in the bed. Marcus loved her, and she knew that. He was overreacting because he was worried about her, when it came down to it. Sighing, Mindy started unpacking her bag again.

It didn't help that there wasn't much she actually needed. That was the whole point of the safehouses. The only things she even packed were sentimental. Her journal, a few clothes she really liked, a couple comics, a few photos, things like that. She knew where all of it was, so she was packing now within 5 minutes or less. It was just becoming tedious now. When she packed, there was that voice in the back of her head telling her she'd be putting all that shit right back where it was in a couple minutes. But for those few minutes when she was going to leave, she felt…free. That freedom was probably the reason she continued to do it…that and the hope that she was going to go through with it this time.

Flopping on the bed, Mindy let out a frustrated yell. She missed Dave. She was still incredibly pissed at him, of course. If he'd just come clean with her, she'd have pointed out that he should have just kept being the fucking Samaritan, because the moment he went out dressed as Kick Ass, the shit would hit the fan. Yeah, she'd have been a little jealous that he was in costume and she wasn't, but she'd have still been able to see him. Even if Marcus had found out eventually, they'd have had the proof that he was a hero for awhile and she wasn't…it would have been something, but Dave was a dumbass and fucked it all up…but she still missed him…she missed him so much… She'd have even taken not seeing Dave while she was grounded… she wouldn't have been happy, but she could have dealt with it. But now everything was just…life sucked…

Mindy looked around the room, just to find something to distract her. There was that book Marcus got her, but she was refusing to read that out of principle. A box by the closet caught her attention and she immediately sat up. She knew what was in that box and she was in awe that she'd never packed it. If she had run from home, even if Marcus had every cop in the city looking for her, she'd have to break in there and get what was in that box. Getting it, she sat back down and opened it. Inside, was Dave's Christmas present to her. A small statue that Dave had fashioned to look like Big Daddy. It was funny that he was so self conscious when he gave it to her, and it was quite possibly the most thoughtful gift she'd ever been given in her life. If she could, she would have placed it more prominently in her room, but it raised too many questions so she had to hide it. Her fingers traced over it, knowing that it took Dave who knows how long to make that Batman figure look like her father. Mindy felt the tears in her eyes starting to form almost immediately.

'No Mindy! No! You're not going to fucking do this! You're fucking Hit Girl! You're not going to go full pussy like this and cry your eyes out, clutching a doll!' Mindy chided herself, unfortunately that's exactly what she was doing. She couldn't stop the tears from falling, and she couldn't stop the strained sobs from escaping her throat. She couldn't stop her body from practically vibrating with the effort she was putting into it. She felt completely and utterly broken, lost in her misery.

It wasn't fair. There were two people on this planet who got her and fully accepted her for who she was. One was dead, and she wasn't allowed to see the other one anymore. The figurine she was holding to like a lifeline was her connection between the two. Eventually, she stopped fighting it and just let it take her. She was never more glad that Marcus was going to be late home, tonight. She was alone and at the moment that's what she wanted as she pretty much drenched her pillow in tears, letting out noises that barely sounded human.

Mindy had no clue how long she'd cried for. She might have fallen asleep for all she knew, but she was facing the shelf by her bed. One of the things on it, stood out against everything else in her room. It was the MovieStar Make-Over Sasha doll that Marcus had gotten her. She'd made the mistake of making the same joke with Marcus that she made with her father, when asked what she wanted. Marcus' reaction was so over the top happy, that she assumed that he got the joke and she went along with it, trying to be more excited than he was. She's still not sure if he got that she didn't really want it. He just…he just didn't get her. Mindy blinked as she looked at the doll on her shelf, and then to the one held tight in her arms. They couldn't be more different, but it was what they represented that cleared Mindy's mind for the first time in awhile. She wiped what was left of the tears from her eyes, and went to the bathroom to make sure she didn't look like she'd been crying.

After that, she packed her bag again, three minutes this time, and put the figurine back in its box and into the bag with everything else. With one last look around her room, Mindy jumped out of the window and inhaled her first breath of truly free air since Marcus found out about the Kick Ass video. Mindy felt different now. She felt…well…she felt like Hit Girl. Sure, she wasn't wearing the costume, but that was the only thing missing…and one way or another, it wouldn't be missing for long. Her entire body tensed with excitement as she went over the plan she'd just made in her head one more time. She wanted to go straight to Dave's, but she'd underestimated Marcus once and lived to regret it. If there was the possibility that someone was following her, she was going to lead them on a merry chase first…and then she'd find Dave. They had a lot to talk about.


	2. Chapter 2

_(A/N: Blah blah, busy blah, getting these chapters out as fast as I can, blah. If you've read my stories, or even the previous chapter, you've heard it before, but I am genuinely getting these chapters out as quickly as I can. Interesting fact though, this story was supposed to be done from Dave's perspective, as the story it's based on had been, but of course, there was no way to do that first chapter from Dave's perspective. As I've been working through the plot in my head, it just seems like this is going to be a Mindy-centric story. Sure, I almost always work in third person so I can get all the perspectives I want, but I usually focus on one person's perspective overall. It could also be that we already know from "Toxic" how Dave feels about everything and I hate being repetitive. So we'll see mostly from Mindy's side of things exactly how she deals with his eventual corruption. Hope this chapter was worth the wait. Let me know what you think.)_

Mindy was practically grinning ear to ear as she stepped through Dave's window. There was just something so invigorating about being out in the night again, especially after being closed up for so long. And sneaking into Dave's room just made her nostalgic. And there was always her secret hope that she'd catch him naked or something. It hadn't happened yet, and part of her would have been disappointed at the fact that he was fully clothed if she wasn't so glad to see him. Not to mention him being on the bed was sending a variety of scenarios through her head.

"Mindy?" Dave's face beamed, as he immediately hopped off the bed and pulled Mindy into a hug so tight her legs left the floor. Mindy had to put a sincere effort into not giggling and kicking her legs, and she succeeded…mostly. "Marcus let you go? That's awesome!" His face almost immediately fell as he felt the backpack and took in its possible significance. He suddenly figured that she wasn't exactly packing for a sleepover. As Dave put Mindy down, her expression seconded his worry once the excitement of seeing him wore off. "He…does know you're here…right?"

Mindy simply made a face. She would be lying if she didn't admit that Dave's judgmental expression was killing her buzz.

"Mindy…" Dave sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Marcus's going to fucking kill me…I know it."

Mindy found herself boiling over again as she yelled, "I tried to compromise, Dave! I really, really fucking tried. Daddy taught me to be obedient and I swear to God that's what I tried to do, but Marcus is fucking smothering me! He doesn't want me to be Hit Girl? Fine, I haven't worn the costume since! He wants me to try to be a normal girl? Fine! I did the best I fucking could! I made friends and everything! And one video and a couple of fucking hidden guns and it all goes to shit! And don't even get me started on the restraining order. I'm sick of him treating me like a fucking kid!" As soon as the words fell out of Mindy's mouth, she immediately shot Dave a glare, daring him to say the obvious follow up to that last sentence. He didn't. Smart guy.

Dave sighed again. "I know, Mindy. I know. He seriously overreacted. But this-" Dave motioned to the backpack. "It's not going to make things any better. Marcus is new to this being a d-…guardian thing. I'm sure if he knew you were seriously thinking about running away, he'd-"

"He'd have me watched 24/7, bar my windows, and make sure if I so much as took a shit or diddled myself, he'd know about it." Mindy grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Mindy, you're exaggerating." Dave rolled his eyes, until he saw Mindy's look.

Mindy made a circular motion with her finger. "What's going on right here…us talking right now… Marcus made it FUCKING ILLEGAL!"

"Well the breaking and entering part was already kind of illegal when you think about it." Dave said, offhandedly. His attempt to break the tension, failed miserably as he looked down and could barely make out Mindy's eyes, they were so narrowed into her glare. "Okay, bad joke." He said, hands up in surrender, back pedaling furiously.

Mindy blew out a puff of air, in frustration. "I'm not joking, Dave. I'm leaving, with or without you."

"I know you're not kiddi-…wait what?!" Dave doubletaked, catching the last part of what Mindy had said. "With me?"

Mindy's face immediately softened, as she looked into Dave's. "Why do you think I'm here, retard? Think about it. The moment I'm gone, Marcus is going to make your life a living Hell. We have plenty of money, and plenty of places to live. We could focus entirely on the mission, Dave. Those cocksuckers out there won't know what hit them. C'mon, it'll be fun. I promise. Just me and you."

Dave's eyes immediately bulged, and he had to fight to tone down the reaction. He didn't know if Mindy was doing it on purpose, but she was practically bitch slapping him with her look of pure…desperate hope. It was probably the closest he'd seen to her giving him a puppy dog face, and he'd be damned if he said it wasn't seriously effective. He could tell that while she'd never admit it, but she really, really, reeeeeeeally wanted him to come with her.

"I'm sick of the act, Dave. I need to be myself again. I need to be Hit Girl."

Mindy's words were able to snap Dave out of the semi-trance that she'd put him in, as he cocked his head to the side. "Which is it?"

"Huh?"

"Which is it? Do you want to be yourself, or do you want to be Hit Girl?"

This time it was Mindy's turn to be confused. "I'm…not following you…I am Hit Girl."

Dave grinned down at Mindy, with a slightly triumphant air about him. "Yeah, and it's an act. I've seen you." Dave smiled a little wider as he made his voice raspier. "For one, you don't actually talk like this."

"Hmph." Mindy grunted, glaring again. "Are you mocking my Hit Girl voice, Dave?"

Dave chuckled slightly. "I'd never." His face gained something of a solemn smile. "But it is an act. You practice witty things to say at the right times, you curse more, you make yourself scary." He hastily added, "Not to say that you're not scary, anyway."

"But this…" Dave pointed to Mindy. "…is the real you. Not Hit Girl. So which is it?"

Mindy's eyes slightly glazed over as she looked at Dave in silence. He'd pretty much shown in those few sentences that he knew her better than Marcus ever would, despite how much he loved her. She wanted nothing more than to rip Dave's clothes off and jump him right there on the bed. But as she wasn't sure how he'd react to that, she had to go with plan B and cage her hormones for now and answer the question. "I want to be both…and I can't get that living with Marcus."

The sincerity of Mindy's words made Dave wince slightly. He unconsciously sat on the edge of the bed as he said, "Have you actually talked to him? Like you are with me, right now?"

"Yes. And he looked at me like I was a fucking psychopath." If the thought had crossed Dave's mind to jokingly say that she _was_ a psychopath, it didn't show.

Instead, Dave realized he would have to change tactics. "You're already in high school, Mindy. If you just tough it out a few more years, you can-"

"No." Mindy said definitively. "Normal kids have to 'tough it out'. I'm a fucking superhero. I don't have to do that shit. I lived just fine on my own."

"You weren't on your own."

Mindy shot Dave a look. "I. Can do. Just. Fine. On my _own_. What the fuck do I need a normal life for? I have more money on hand then most people will ever see. I know what I want to do with my life. And bitch, I have better fucking test scores than you do..."

"To be honest, that's not very difficult."

Mindy chose to ignore that statement. "I'll just keep home schooling myself, and we both know I'm a living, breathing, motherfucking lethal weapon. I'll be fine."

The increasing hostility in Mindy's voice was making Dave a little antsy. This was obviously not how she'd expected this conversation to go. "Mindy, you're a fucking badass. Believe me, I'm not arguing that point, but-" And then Dave went on to name things that Mindy might not have thought about. Marcus looking for her, relentlessly. The friends she'd be leaving behind. So on and so forth. The problem was that Dave had to, on the spot, think of things that Mindy hadn't already debated over the countless times she'd packed and unpacked her bag.

But as Mindy looked into Dave's face, she was struck by a weird sort of epiphany. It might have been the way he was talking, or it might have been the eagerness he had, trying to make her see things from his perspective. But a sudden thought flashed in her mind. The moment she went for that window to leave, Dave was coming with her. It hit her like a punch to the chest and she just knew it, without a doubt in her head. But with that realization came another one that she was genuinely surprised, hadn't occurred to her earlier. Her dad raised her living in safehouses, and staying one step ahead of the bad guys as well as the cops. This was simply going back to how she used to live. Sure she'd miss some of the friends she'd made and the consistent home, but as long as she had Dave, she'd get over it.

Going to a regular school, living a regular life, having a regular job, those were all stuff that Dave wanted. Yeah, he bitched about them but deep down, he still wanted them at some level. And that was all stuff she'd be taking away from him if she went for that window. She'd be stealing away his life, his family, his friends, his girlfriend... Sure, that last part made her a little happy, but it was very bittersweet. Because the fact was if she went to that window it would quite possibly be the single most selfish thing she'd ever do in her life. Mindy had always seen herself as a good person, but the fact was, she'd said it herself, she didn't need Dave to survive. She'd be taking him because she wanted him. There was no way she could justify it not being an absolutely selfish decision. So she listened. She listened and gave her honest replies and gave Dave every possible opportunity to keep her from going to that window.

But when it came down to it, she wasn't convinced. Mindy sighed as she put her hand on Dave's shoulder. "Dave…it's…it's okay. As I said, I'll be fine. Just…let me find you, okay? Don't go to the safehouses by yourself, looking for me. I underestimated Marcus once and paid for it. Just weather the storm for a bit and he'll eventually cut you some slack, or you could sue him for harassment." Mindy flashed Dave a forced smile and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you when I can. Bye, Dave." Yeah, she was sure Dave was going to leave with her, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to make damn sure by really pouring it on.

By the time Mindy's foot hit the windowsill, she heard, "Mindy…wait…just let me pack a few things, alright?"

"…'kay…" Mindy froze where she was, but she didn't look back at Dave as she heard the shuffling going on behind her. As she faced out the window waiting for him to run away with her, Mind knew that despite how horrible she felt about this, that she'd be leaving the room the same way she came in. With a big smile on her face. She knew how bad that was, but she was so happy to have Dave, that she could shrug it off and just think, really, how bad can Hell be?


End file.
